View full sizeOne of the photos circulated by the Amalgamated Transit Union 757 shows a crack in a Lloyd Center MAX rail.ATU 757

The Oregon Department of Transportation said Friday that it found “no concerns for public safety” during a recent inspection of TriMet's MAX system prompted by the Amalgamated Transit Union 757 circulating photos of what it says were corroded and cracked rails and switches.

The pictures were circulated to the press following a highly publicized incident in which a MAX door remained open as a train buzzed along Interstate 84 corridor at speeds of up to 55 mph.

ATU 757 claimed TriMet was putting off maintenance, issuing slow-down orders for troubled sections of the MAX line and even ignoring reports of cracked rails.

“After 50 plus hours of inspections and reviewing of records, ODOT was unable to find any areas of a safety concern,” said John Johnson, the state agency's manager of rail safety.

ODOT is the designated rail safety oversight agency for TriMet rail operations, as required by the Federal Transit Administration.

“The inspection supports the fact that our MAX system is safe,” TriMet General Manager Neil McFarlane said in a statement. “Our skilled maintenance ... employees work hard every day to ensure that our system is maintained and operating as it should.”

Last week, an ODOT inspector examined 21 switches and six rail crossings. He also walked about five miles of track and rode more than 28 miles on the MAX, according to the final report released Friday.

The inspector concentrated on areas where ATU 757 President Bruce Hansen said the photos were taken.

Despite the ATU’s accusations that the system had fallen into disrepair because of poor management, the report said the inspector could not find a single problem that posed a safety concern.

They suggested we look at the track by the Lloyd Center towards Rose Quarter, 11thstreet Terminus and Gateway as this is where slow orders for train movements and the switch box with the debris were located. The location of the cracked rail was unknown to Tri-Met (sic) officials. We walked the turnouts in these locations and found two switch points that were in need of adjustment due to them not fitting tightly against the stock rail, a maintenance issue. The slow order that Tri-Met placed on this portion of track for five mile per hour (5mph) at the 11th St, 17 A switch was due to a mismatch on the gage side rail end of 3/16-Inch, it was in compliance for the track speed but was slow ordered for additional safety.

Hansen said he was surprised by the findings, but added that he hadn’t seen the final report.

He said he was also disappointed that a union representative wasn’t allowed to accompany the inspector last week.

Asked if he is worried ODOT’s findings were a blow to the union’s credibility as it girds for a contentious year of bargaining, Hansen said, “Without reading the report, I can’t address that.”

TriMet has said that its next budget will include money for new MAX maintenance, including refurbishing aging trains.

“As TriMet management has shown in the past,” Hansen said, “just because it’s in the budget doesn’t mean it will get fixed.”

But the inspector's report appears to contradict Hansen's statement, saying TriMet has done a good job of fixing problems.

For example, in his report, the inspector addresses a crack in a rail shown in one of the photos supplied by the ATU.

Hansen told ODOT he didn't know the exact location of the crack, but the inspector reported finding the rail near the Lloyd Center. It had been welded, grounded and repaired during routine maintenance before the inspection, the report said.

However, TriMet told the inspector it schedules welding maintenance repairs through a contractor "as they do not have any qualified track welders in their maintenance crews."

In its Friday statement, TriMet said the small crack was in a section of rail that "is attached to ties at the base and fully enclosed by pavement, making it secure even if it had expanded before being repaired."

At the same time, Hensen told the inspector that unionized TriMet crews felt intimidated by managers.

From the report:

The ATU mentioned that the members of the ATU was starting to feel intimidated by Tri-Met management in the reporting of additional locations.

ODOT offered for the members to contact us directly if there were additional areas of concern; as of March 7th ODOT has not been contacted with concerns.